Will one of the nation’s greatest musicians be noticed in a D.C. Metro? Will any passerbys stop during rush hour? Violinist Joshua Bell experimented for Gene Weingarten’s Sunday Magazine story in The Washington Post.

Click here to view the video on YouTube.

What makes a great violinist?  Technical command?  Expression?  Aura?  The answer is: they all do.  Austrian-born violinist & composer, Fritz Kreisler (1875-1962), captured the hearts of not only music aficionados and listeners, but other accomplished violinists as well.

“He is noted for his sweet tone and expressive phrasing. Like many great violinists of his generation, he produced a characteristic sound, which was immediately recognizable as his own.” 

In 1910, Kreisler  premiered  Elgar’s Violin Concerto, one which was commissioned by and dedicated to him.  After the war, he moved to America where he gave his last public concert in 1947.  With the introduction of radio and recording, Fritz Kreisler broadcast performances and made few recordings which still survive today. 

On April 26, 1941, Kreisler met with tragedy & was involved in the first of two traffic accidents which deeply affected  his life. Struck by a truck while crossing a street in New York, he fractured his skull, and was in a coma for over a week.

Kreisler wrote quite a few pieces for the violin, including solos for encores, such as “Liebesleid” and “Liebesfreud”. Some of Kreisler’s compositions were written in the style of other composers such as Gaetano Pugnani, Giuseppe Tartini, Jacques Marnier Companie, and Antonio Vivaldi. His cadenza for the Beethoven violin concerto is the one most often played by violinists today.

“He performed and recorded his own version of the first movement of the Paganini D major violin concerto. This version is rescored and in some places reharmonised. The orchestral introduction is completely rewritten in some places. The overall effect is of a late nineteenth century work.”

“Kreisler owned several antique violins by luthiers Antonio Stradivari, Pietro Guarneri, Giuseppe Guarneri, and Carlo Bergonzi, most of which eventually came to bear his name.”

“He also owned a Jean-Baptiste Vuillaume violin of 1860, which he often used as his second fiddle, and which he often loaned to the young prodigy Josef Hassid.”

Fritz Kreisler continued to perform despite the unfortunate accident he’d experienced.  In one of his last live concerts, his wife watched and listened in ”great pain” while the once brilliant violinist performed. 

Towards the end of his life, he was in another accident while traveling in an automobile, and spent his last days blind and deaf from that accident, but he ‘radiated a gentleness and refinement not unlike his music.’”

Source:  Wikipedia

The violin, also known as the “Queen of Instruments,” is arguably the closest instrument to the human voice.  It’s no wonder that it seems to evoke almost every emotion from extreme delight to depths of sadness.

The violin “family” consists of the violin, viola, cello and string bass (pronounced base).  There have been many variations on these instruments through the centuries.  Some say that the violin’s roots are in Europe, but others stand firm in their belief that this bowed instrument originated in Asia, namely China and Mongolia.

Everyone has a violin story.  Whenever I’ve played at a wedding, party or social event, I invariably get an instrument enthusiast prodding we with questions, then sharing their own stories such as: “My grandfather was buried with his fiddle,” or “My father used to play us to sleep when we were kids,” or the classic “I played for a few years in middle school and haven’t touched it since.”  I certainly enjoy these interactions as a wonderful spiritual connection between our human condition and the music we produce.

Here are five tips in truly enjoying great violin music:

1. Listen to recordings several times so you hear the many nuances this incredible instrument has to offer.  Just absorb the music without analyzing at first.
2. Listen to players playing different instruments so you can begin to hear the subtle differences between the violins.
3. Become familiar with composers you appreciate and listen broadly and deeply to their compositions; sometimes the CD you’ve purchased by accident may become your favorite!
4. GO TO VIOLIN CONCERTS and enjoy a sumptuous meal afterwards.  You will feel as though you’ve eaten twice.
5. Nothing will EVER replace live music and the energy and dynamic it offers.  So share your experience with a friend.

Remember, all of our experience is rooted in vibration and through the violin, we are experiencing one of the finest the universe has to offer.

Here’s a wonderful musical surprise for you…